-Like last week, we start with Donald and Vince’s meeting from two weeks ago. Then we get footage of Vince choosing Umaga last week, as well as the big man taking out Rey Rey on Smackdown. Tonight, we’ll find out who Donald selected.

(1)John Cena and Shawn Michaels vs. Rated RKO, World Tag Team Title MatchWell, this is certainly a big way to start off the show. JR welcomes us to Fresno State University, kicking off RAW with a World Tag Title match. Edge and Randy Orton join us via the big screen (formerly the Titan-Tron) and say that they’re not ready to compete. The good news is, they will be later tonight. Orton says HBK should’ve won an Oscar for Best Actor last night, for the way he told Cena he’d protect him ‘til WrestleMania. Randy warns Cena about HBK and his lying ways. We get historic video footage of HBK and his past partners and how their trysts ended. The first is of The Rockers and we all know what happened there. We move to two years later, he and Diesel. Six years later, it’s HBK and X-Pac, as Michaels hit X-Pac with a chair during a mat ch with The Rock. Then in 2002, the NWO, as he superkicks Booker T in the middle of an interview. Finally, just two years ago, Michaels taking care of Hulk Hogan after their tag match. Team RKO says they’ll see the Tag Champs later. I guess this is why they started off first.

[Break]

-Mick Foley name-drops some famous people in his book.

(1) Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin, MITB Qualifying MatchI’d hate to see EITHER of these guys left out of the match. But since Hardy hasn’t been in one yet and Shelton has been sharing the doghouse with Carlito, I’m guessing Hardy takes this one. Speaking of name-dropping, JR says Shelton might be the “Adrian Peterson of the WWE,” for those few (I’m sure) people that get that reference. Shelton goes for a few quick pins to no avail. Hardy puts the boots to Benjamin in the corner, then hits a seated dropkick. Shelton takes the advantage back and goes for some near-falls again. Hardy heel kicks Benjamin out of the ring. Hardy runs the rails and hits a clothesline. Reverse elbow finds the mark for Shelton. Whip into the buckle, but Hardy runs to the top and hits Whisper in the Wind. He goes up top for a swan-ton, but Benjamin catches him at the top rope and hits a belly-to-belly from off the top. Hardy is outside the ring as we get an adbreak.

[Break]

An interesting new camera angle brings us back from break. Benjamin has Hardy in what appears to be a sleeper on the mat as we return. Hardy fights out, but runs into a back-body drop, to which Benjamin covers and gets a two-count. Benjamin working on the back and neck of Hardy now, but Hardy gets a jawbreaker, which puts Benjamin down. Couple clotheslines by Hardy and he’s in control. Benjamin gets to the top rope to try and springboard, but he falls flat on his face. Hardy goes for a quick cover, and only gets two (though it looks like Chad Patton brought the third hand down). Swan-ton for Hardy ends it.

WINNER: Jeff Hardy by pinfall at 10:05It would’ve been cooler if they had Hardy pin Benjamin after his mistake, then it would’ve looked more like “part of the show” instead of an accident. But they probably couldn’t have ad-libbed in time. Nevertheless, give Hardy credit for not standing trying to think of something after Shelton crashed- he went right for the pin.

-Vince comes on the big screen as Jeff makes his way to the back. But Vince says he wasn’t celebrating last week when his man Umaga beat Hardy for the IC Title. Vince says when it’s all said and done, Trump will get a new hair-do (then we see all the options Vince had last week for Trump’s hair).

[Break]

-Ashley welcomes us to the set of her Playboy shoot. We get comments from the photographer and managing editor.

-We go right to Melina backstage, with Johnny Nitro, complaining about the attention Ashley gets. And a shot at Foley too. Next week, Melina takes on Mickie James in a falls-count-anywhere match for the women’s title. And tonight she faces Maria! Oh no! Nitro tells her to shut up, as he’s pissed that he lost his MITB shot last week. He’s got a match, now, apparently.

(2) Johnny Nitro vs. Super CrazyNo posing or photographers from Nitro. He gets to show off his “mad” face. Crazy has his catchphrase inserted into the beginning of his theme music. Nitro attacks Crazy pre-bell on the outside. Nitro puts the beating on Crazy, including throwing him into the stairs. Still on the outside, Crazy gets driven face-first into the mat with a suplex. Nitro is walking to the back now. Well, I guess we get another fake match. “You suck” chant from the fans.

WINNER: No matchIt was a good beat-down though. But two non-matches out of three?

(3) MELINA VS. MARIANon-title here. I don’t know if the tail on Maria’s outfit will help her out here. Melina goes for, what else, the hair off the bat. Maria turns things around for a one-count. Off the ropes goes Melina, she holds on and Maria misses a dropkick. Face first into the mat goes Maria. Melina now with the foot, choking Maria in the corner. Good leg extension there. Near-fall by Melina after a modified Boston Crab with Maria stuck in the ropes. Another hair pull sends Maria back down. Camel clutch applied by Melina. Maria breaks out by pulling the hair. Whipped into the buckle, Maria sticks the foot up, which Melina runs into. Bulldog out of the corner by Maria gets a near-fall. Clothesline in the corner and Melina slumps down. Perfect opportunity for a bronco-buster, but Melina sticks the foot out. She goes right for the pin, and gets it.

WINNER: Melina by pinfall at 3:24Decent match. Maria looked good there in the ring, and it was good Melina got most of the offense in.

-Next, we’re going to find out who Trump selected to represent him at WM!

[Break]

-The barber’s chair is back out on the stage as Mr. McMahon makes his entrance. Apparently, Vince has decided on the bald look for Trump should he lose at WM. Apparently, Vince is also planning a “Billionaire bitch-slap.” Oh joy. We get clips of Rey’s return on Smackdown, and Vince ruining things. Vince introduces his man, Umaga. Looks like he’s got a new tattoo- his stomach reads, “Samoa,” as if we didn’t already know. McMahon riffs a bit on Trump, who interrupts on the Titan-Tron. Trump is impressed with Umaga. Trump says Umaga is an animal, and you have to tame them. Trump introduces his man: Bobby Lashley. Crowd is a bit tepid for this announcement. The two warriors meet face-to-face (almost) in the ring. Mr. McMahon summons security. Officials, security, and agents ( I spy: Steve Keirn and Mike Rotundo) come down, but the two men go at it anyway. Great camera shots as they fall to ringside. Really get you into the battle. The fight goes on until we get a break. I’m torn on Lashley as the opponent: On one hand, who would he fight for the ECW Title at WM, and if he did, it would clearly make ECW look like the lesser brand, whoever he fights, so in that regard, this move makes sense. The crowd will be into the match because of the stipulations, and they might not have been into a plain one-on-one Lashley match. But of all the people it could’ve been, Lashley as the surprise is disappointing. It’s clear WWE is doing whatever they can (i.e. attaching him to someone famous) to get Lashley over, much like they did with Cena.

[Break]

-We get clips of what just happened, as JR said he’s seen gang fights with less casualties. It immediately makes me imagine JR walking down the street and running into two gangs doing battle, while he hides behind a dumpster and watches.

-Time for the Masterlock Challenge, as Chris Masters is in the ring. Great Khali comes out, and the crowd is quite surprised. Masters tries to get it hooked on, but keeps backing out. Khali is too big for Masters to get his Masterlock on. Kane then comes out, chokeslams Masters, then goes after Khali. He even clotheslines the big man over the top rope and to Khali’s credit, he doesn’t land on his feet. Chairshot for Masters, and cue the fire!

[Break]

-Vince is raging to Coach backstage. He gets a phone call from the “Sons of bitches board of directors.” The board member thinks the match needs a guest referee. Vince says he doesn’t want to look like a bald-headed freak. He doesn’t seem to notice that Coach is bald. Coach gives him a great smirk as Vince asks him to go get some water.

-Coming up, World Tag Team Titles are on the line. And next, the newest HOF’er!

[Break]

-This Sunday on Deal or No Deal- Lashley, Edge, Orton and Cena. In what roles I wonder?

-Ha, I love when JR makes fun of that stupid Skittles copy he has to read.

-The next HOF inductee: Jerry Lawler! I try to avoid spoilers, especially for the HOF names, but I just can’t seem to do it this year. We get the NFL Films music with Lawler’s video package.

-Edge and Orton are game-planning backstage. I don’t think we’ve seen two guys game-plan more with it never getting them anywhere. Earlier tonight, we see Rated RKO’s comments and the HBK video. We’re quite light on the wrestling tonight, as I actually had to go back and try to recall the last match we saw.

-And right on cue, Carlito comes down to the ring for his match, which is next!

[Break]

(4) Carlito vs. Kenny DykstraWe’re JIP, and we get clips of what happened to start the match on split-screen. Carlito is on the offensive with some elbows and a bodyslam. Springboard off the middle rope onto Kenny for a two-count. Carlito rams the shoulder into Kenny’s abdomen in the corner. Kenny breaks free with a thumb to the eye. “Kenny sucks” chant as Carlito hits some left-hands, then flapjacks Kenny for another two-count. Sprinboard misses as Kenny saw that coming. On the outside, Kenny works Carlito into the side of the ring. Back in, Dykstra with a near-fall. Carlito fights back with chops, but Kenny sniffs out the rib-cage of Carlito again. Face-first suplex by Kenny and he gets two. Knee-lift by Kenny and he’s now clearly working on the mid-section of CCC. Kenny wrenching back in the abdominal stretch he has Carlito in, but Carlito hip-tosses him onto the apron. Carlito holds onto the ropes on a sunset flip attempt, and the Caribbean native goes on the offense. Another sprinboard, this time the reverse elbow hits, but only for two. Carlito lays some soft left hands into Kenny on the mat. Hurricanrana is blocked and turned into a powerbomb by Kenny, but he can’t get the pin. Kenny missess....something in the corner and he ends up crotch-first on the middle turnbuckle. Back-cracker by Carlito and the pin is academic. Flair comes onto the ramp to applaud Carlito.

WINNER: Carlito by pinfall, about 8:00 shownSolid match.

-Vince is packing up backstage. He’s headed to San Jose to show up on ECW tomorrow night. He’s going to “make Lashley’s life a living hell.”

-The Main Event is next, Cena/HBK vs. Rated RKO!

[Break]

(5) Rated RKO vs. Shawn Michaels and John Cena, World Tag Title Match, Take TwoI can’t believe the New DX DVD is getting three discs (for just over a year’s worth of stuff) and the Four Horsemen DVD gets two. HBK and Edge start things off. Attempted hip-toss by Edge is blocked, and HBK gets in a few chops. He starts working the left arm of Edge. Edge grabs the hair, gets a forearm shot, then a bodyslam. Orton is tagged in and he misses an elbow. Cena is tagged in and Orton’s face meets the buckle. Kick to the gut and modified fisherman suplex. Orton turns the tide and gets a dropkick to the back of the Champ. Edge back in now and the crowd is firmly behind Cena and HBK (or Cena, in this case). The Canadian puts the boots to Cena and Orton is back in with some European uppercuts. Orton just plain hammers away at Cena. Cena tries to fight back, but Orton works him back to the mat. Tag is in to Edge and he throws some knees at a dazed Cena. Orton whips Cena to the opposite corner but misses a charge and face-plants Orton. Both men are down. Tag finally to Michaels, and he hits a flying jalapeno on Orton, then an atomic drop. Scoop slam and the Showstopper goes to the top and hits an elbow. Inverted atomic drop for Edge and HBK sets up for a superkick. You can see this one coming a mile away, folks. Come on, Cena HAD to know he was going for Orton. After all, Orton dove out of the way. Anyway, time for a break.

[Break]

-Back live, Edge and HBK are in the ring. Edge is on the offensive here. Orton is in and he gets in some stomps on HBK. Now in the classic rear-chinlock. With the crowd’s help, Michaels gets out, then Orton hits his special back-breaker (JR: “Inverted atomic drop!) for a two count. Edge is back in with a sleeper. Shawn crotches Edge on the top rope and the crowd is fully behind HBK here. Tag is in to Orton and the hot-tag is made to Cena. Flying shoulderblock on Orton by Cena and he lands the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. He’s got Orton up for the FU, but Edge grabs him and pushes, and Orton’s legs hit ref Mike Chioda. All four men in now and Orton and Michaels are quickly thrown outside. Edge sets up for the spear, but Cena catches him. Orto n is in with the belt, but HBK steals it and hits Edge in the back. He gives the belt back to Orton and Edge turns around to see Orton with the belt. Edge then takes a walk. Orton gets superkicked and Cena FU’s him for the win. The two men are face-to-face in the ring as Cena takes his title belt from the ref and HBK stares at it. HBK raises both their arms in victory.

WINNERS: HBK and Cena by pinfall at 15:57Above-average match, and fun ending.

-We see a graphic of the guest ref being announced next week, though JR isn’t quite sure if it will be announced next week or even if there WILL be one.

(edited by geemoney on 26.2.07 2310)College, Sports and more!: Experience It

It's gonna be sad if Jeff is in Money in the Bank and not Matt. I was hoping we'd get Hardys/MNM the final final encounter in the ultimate blowoff: a no count-out match.

They did seem to start Johnny Nitro vs. Mick Foley, which is a fine consolation. But Ashley getting the women's title shot over Mickie is going to be highly unfortunate.

I think 8-man Money in the Bank is gonna be unwieldy. And they've already kicked out three of their best ladder athletes -- Van Dam, Johnny Nitro, and Shelton -- while including less laddery dudes -- King Booker, Randy Orton, and probably Mr. Kennedy.

Hot crowd tonight, though I'm starting to think "springboard is to midcarders now as spinebusters was to midcarders four years ago." I'd love to see a match between Shelton and Carlito where the loser can't bust out the flippy-dos anymore.

Lashley was a tepid announcement but they got the crowd back with the brawl and the GREAT camera angles. They made it look like the world was ending there. Good stuff. One good thing about Lashley being choosen is that it's sink or swim with him. If he stinks up the joint at 'Mania or the crowd rejects him and/or starts rooting for Umaga (which MIGHT happen in a crowd that will be heavy smark) they'll have to pull the plug on him.

Carlito and Kenny had a good little match and that crowd sure loved Carly. Kenny sure got lost in the shuffle these last few weeks.

Great fire from Nitro too and amusing because he seems like a laid back guy anyway to Melina Perez's highstrungness. Wonder if this is the beginning of them seperating he and Melina on camera?

Gotta love Khali randomly answering the Masterlock Challenge AND Masters trying to bow up. Did I see wrong or did the referee declare him the winner of the challenge?

Solid little tag match at the end. Wonder who Cena and Shawn are going to drop the tags too? We can only pray that it's Hass and Benjamin. I gotta assume that they're gonna go face/face at 'Mania and let Batista be the only heel in the doube mains.

I like how they're treating being on the 'Mania card as being a huge achievement that every guy on the rooster is fighting to be on. Gives every match more of a big-time feel, I think.

- I like the HBK video package, but it was a lame way to start off the show by announcing the match only to do a basic interview segment. I felt more letdown than anything that we weren't getting a big match to lead off. Since when is not being ready a legit excuse to hold off a match?

- Jeff Hardy made a nice cover on the botched move. It looks like there will be 8 guys this year, it's too bad one of them won't be Shelton.

- The start of Super Crazy's music is just awesome, he should get a push for that alone.

- All that security didn't help matters much now did it.

- Jerry Lawler in the Hall makes sense, but no mention of his feuds with the Harts seems like a big part of his WWE life to leave out. Unless we just don't mention the Harts anymore.

- If I were Edge I'd leave Randy Orton too. All the guy does these days is get pinned. I'm okay with it, but I'd be pissed if I were Edge.

Originally posted by J-SharpAnd they've already kicked out three of their best ladder athletes -- Van Dam, Johnny Nitro, and Shelton -- while including less laddery dudes -- King Booker, Randy Orton, and probably Mr. Kennedy.

Nice to see Kenny break out the Arn Anderson GourdBuster.I'm in the vast minority, but I'd rather watch Rotundo vs. Keirn than Umaga vs. Lashley. Now, Umaga vs. Kamala would be interesting.How many times has Kane shown up on RAW since he lost his Loser Leaves RAW match to Umaga? Has to be at least a half dozen.They seem like they really want to pull the trigger on a massive Khali babyface run, but deep down they know it is more likely to come up Nathan Jones than anything else.With the star ink, Edge really looks like a hybrid of the Hollywood Blondes.If they've waited this long they probably are better off going match of respect between Michaels/Cena at Mania, with the animosity growing throughout the match. They really needed to show a video package of Lawler playing 'Hide the Chain'.

The Horsemen DVD is only 2 Discs but Still 9 hours. Let Us Rejoice and Sing Its Praise.

Lawler selling HBK as the untrustworthy partner was just great color commentary..."I don't know how you take a superkick to the jaw out of context."

Can they make WM any more top-heavy? Eight (!) people in MitB? Yikes. I fear for the undercard.

Yes, the Lashley-Umaga brawl was hot, but (1) a Lashley-Umaga match in front of 70,000 likely won't be and (2) Lashley is bland - still - and (3) wouldn't the general populace rather see Trump have his head shaved? His hair is more (in)famous than Vince's. I was praying for a Hogan swerve.

I guess the expanded MitB roster opens up an option (c) for the Flair-Carlito story: Flair lighting Carlito's fire helps Carlito seize a spot in the match.

Originally posted by HokienauticSo I guess the guest referee will be Stone Cold Steve Austin?

Yep.

Khali as babyface is weird enough, but Khali as babyface getting a decent babyface reaction is even weirder. I hope they have him cut a promo every week between now and Wrestlemania. That'd be AWESOME.

I'm with Mr. Shapiro - that montage of HBK being a jerk was fantastic.

I was a little worried going into the Lashley/Umaga segment because a.) I was waiting for Donald to introduce his representative "Lindsey" and b.) Lashley's not all that over. The crowd seemed to really dump all over him when he came out, but that brawling segment was just done so well that it may just have gotten the match over all by its lonesome. Umaga's not the awful worker that some people seem to think he is, and Lashley's green but seems like he can be guided to a good match if it's laid out correctly. I'm (cautiously) optimistic.

Shelton Benjamin scared the crap out of me with that fall. Good Lord.

I liked the Carlito/Kenny match, but Carlito needs a new finisher in the worst way. The back-cracker is a total transitional move in its execution, and came off as anti-climatic in that match. I don't know if they're necessarily NEW new, but I prefer the tights Kenny Dykstra wore tonight to whatever the Hell he was wearing a few weeks ago. Now if they can only change that awful, awful name.

I'm really, really hoping they have Cena and Michaels lose the tag team titles to World's Greatest Tag Team and then have Michaels do the Superkick of Total Dickery. Man that'd be a fun match.

Overall a good Raw, and it's a testament to how long-term planning can focus a show. Raw has been focused on building to Mania for the last month, and the result has been strong shows where every segment seems to mean something.

Kennedy and Orton seem like locks for the last two MITB spots, but then WWE went and added two more entrants. I'd guess Matt Hardy for one, and maybe Hardcore Holly to get another ECW guy in the match. Benoit and Finlay will hopefully be saved for an awesome US title match against each other.

They could kill a couple of birds with one stone for Mania by making it a six-person, winner-take-all match for the women's and WWE tag belts by booking Ashley, London and Kendrick against MNM. It would lead to a much better match than just Ashley/Melina, and it would give the tag champs the rub from being associated with Ms. Playboy. Melina works a really stiff, realistic style in the ring that seems to mesh really well with the female wrestlers, but I'm not sure if anything can carry Ashley to a good solo match.

I don't know what is more disquieting -- the fact that the rest of the statue is missing, or that it has four toes.

Originally posted by BBThey could kill a couple of birds with one stone for Mania by making it a six-person, winner-take-all match for the women's and WWE tag belts by booking Ashley, London and Kendrick against MNM.

That IS a good idea, although I think you're gonna end up seeing the workers managing the amateurs. Like I said, my assumption/hope was that Melina namedropping Foley plus Johnny being booked as super-strong, super-serious was preparation for that match.

Despite my nitpicking the ladder match, I thought this show was great and has been ever since Hunter's injury.

Originally posted by flairforthegold13Lashley was a tepid announcement but they got the crowd back with the brawl and the GREAT camera angles. They made it look like the world was ending there. Good stuff. One good thing about Lashley being choosen is that it's sink or swim with him. If he stinks up the joint at 'Mania or the crowd rejects him and/or starts rooting for Umaga (which MIGHT happen in a crowd that will be heavy smark) they'll have to pull the plug on him.

Great, now I know exactly who's life to screw up in Detroit.

The parts of RAW I actually caught were great.

Really like the HBK history lesson by Team RKOGreat to see Jeff headed to the MitB.Loved the tag team finish.

Didn't get to see much else...I'm liking all the building toward Mania...starting to get a really good feel.

It pretty much doesn't matter who they put in as Umaga's opponent.Because we are gonna get a special referee. And we all know who that is going to be.Thus making him the star of the match.Plus Vince will lose his hair. And the general audience would rather see Trump lose his hair? Think again. This is a wrestling crowd. Who are programmed to hate Vince.And no matter what, Vince will sell it.

The match will probably become no-dq at some point, thus making sure it will be a huge brawl. Then Umaga loses.Then Vince does the complete oversell and tries to escape, only for the special ref to beat him up.

It is predictable but it will be great entertainment.Vince never disappoints at Wrestlemania.

MITBI am somewhat hoping they will have a "losers rematch" thing where RVD, Nitro, Shelton and Kane get to duke it out once more for a remaining spot. Sounds plausible somewhat.

Actually and sadly this is the ONLY WM23 match I care about and want to see right now! Everything else sucks to me! But that´s just my opinion!

One more point: The ECW champion is fighting for the hair of a billionaire?? Wow - The spirit of ECW is still alive! HAHAHAHA

For some reason I don't think Matt gets in just because he always seems to miss out on the big matches and really isn't a contender for much of anything. Sabu isn't either, but I'd like to see him in over some of the guys already or who are going to be in. Will RVD totally be off the card?

I don't see Carlito getting in either. Something tells me he and Flair are going to have a match as a way to get Flair on the card. Flair should steal Torrie. She's probably the only guy who won't turn bland, plus it would make for some great promos.

Originally posted by BigDaddyLoco>For some reason I don't think Matt gets in just because he always seems to miss out on the big matches and really isn't a contender for much of anything. Sabu isn't either, but I'd like to see him in over some of the guys already or who are going to be in. Will RVD totally be off the card?

I don't see Carlito getting in either. Something tells me he and Flair are going to have a match as a way to get Flair on the card. Flair should steal Torrie. She's probably the only guy who won't turn bland, plus it would make for some great promos.

I think there might be a big clusterfuck match between the ECW originals and the new breed guys. Thus taking care of RVD, Sabu and such.

Carlito vs Flair could be a decent lower card match.While the main events are pretty much fleshed out already, the rest in my opinion is still pretty much open.Guess Raw already has two big stories to focus on (title match and the hair match) but I have no clue what other matches they are going to do.

Oh..wait..Melina vs Ashley. Not really -that- interesting.Unless they have Mickie win back the title (due to Ashley inteference) next week and make it a 3-way match.

Pretty good show for it gave some nice advancement for Mania. Hardy in MITB, Lawler in the HOF, Khali/Kane, Umaga/Lashley, and the Women's title on the line.

This may sound selfish, but I really hope they find a way to get Shelton in the MITB. He does so much in that match to make it exciting, and is really innovative when it comes to some of the spots he breaks out.

Nitro going somewhat apeshit was cool as hell, as was the package of HBK's superkick montage.

It's funny though, Kane has only been gone a few months, and JR and Lawler acted like they hadn't seen him in year when he ran-in on Khali and Masters.

Last night was the first time in a long time that I watched the show from beginning to end without the aid of a DVR ... I must say that I wish they were building to Wrestlemania every week of the year. In my opinion, one of the better overall shows they've done in a while ...

8 men in the MitB match?!?!? ... f'n sweet ...

I had forgotten how much I missed JR screaming "Hellfire & Brimstone!" during Kane's entrance.

Originally posted by MayhemI had forgotten how much I missed JR screaming "Hellfire & Brimstone!" during Kane's entrance.

I just wish he'd remember to denounce Kane for setting him on fire.

I liked this show a lot, and I wonder if that's because I stopped watching full episodes a few weeks back. Does absence make the smark grow fonder or are they really trying harder as we approach WM? I can't tell.

Within a minute, they worked that booing crowd in favor of Lashley/Umaga. Gotta admire Vince for making that work. I fully expect their match to include interference from Hardcore Holly and Rey.

If you're Nitro, why wouldn't you roll Crazy into the ring for a quick pin?